Politics

Although several business organizations, law enforcement agencies and higher learning institutions opposed a bill that would end all licensing requirements for Oklahomans to carry guns, the Oklahoma Legislature passed it.

Thursday afternoon felt like the end of a long battle for those fighting for criminal justice reforms. Gov. Mary Fallin signed six new bills, surrounded by women who have benefitted from mental health and substance abuse with treatment instead of incarceration and analysts who helped craft the evidence-based policies aimed at decreasing the state's prison overpopulation and the lawmakers who fought to get those measures passed.

Several vital details about the Oklahoma State Department of Health's financial debacle became public on Tuesday, marking one of the most consequential days in the story's development since the commissioner resigned in late October.

After several lawmakers on the state and federal levels have resigned amid allegations of sexual impropriety, Gov. Mary Fallin filed an executive order in an attempt to stymie the problem within Oklahoma government.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority's governing board opted for the safer option Friday, when its members unanimously approved several Medicaid reimbursement rate cuts for providers. But that could still put thousands of the state's most vulnerable residents at risk for losing health and mental health services.

The Trump administration has plucked some of Oklahoma's most visible and most conservative politicians and placed them into high-ranking federal jobs, a move locals said reiterates the president's dedication to a populist message.